Zeff Faces Regulators Today On Simulcast Future

The Owner Of The Shoreline Stat Dog Track In Bridgeport Needs Assurances That Gaming Officials Will Not Try To Terminate His License.

October 28, 1997|By LYN BIXBY; Courant Staff Writer

Some people refer to A. Robert Zeff as ``The Count,'' as in Dracula.

To foes in the courtroom or in business, he can appear a dark, foreboding presence, even now at 63. He is still slender, tall, partial to dark suits; his black hair is swept straight back.

Before he bought a jai alai fronton in Bridgeport 20 years ago, he had made lots of money -- and some enemies -- as one of the most successful personal injury and divorce lawyers in Michigan. He was investigated on suspicions of tax evasion and legal misconduct, but nobody ever pinned anything on him.

His record was clean until June 1996, when he was arrested at his waterfront estate in Westport, accused of trying to destroy evidence during a search of his home by state police detectives pursuing a corruption investigation. The next month, his gambling business -- he had converted the Bridgeport fronton into the Shoreline Star dog track -- sank into bankruptcy.

The life Zeff had crafted was falling apart.

But now, more than a year later, his future may be looking better.

The state police corruption investigation appears to have fizzled. The criminal charges from the search are languishing in court. The dog track is poised to emerge from bankruptcy.

And today state regulators are expected to address a multimillion-dollar question: Should Zeff be allowed to continue to operate a lucrative simulcast off-track betting operation at Shoreline Star even though he has violated state regulations by not running greyhounds there for almost a year?

Zeff has said he plans to resume live racing next spring. But it is hard to find anyone -- aside from Zeff and his top staff -- who thinks that running greyhounds in Bridgeport can be profitable. Attendance at dog tracks has been declining for years all around the country.

He appears determined to hang on to his business with the hope that the city may one day have a casino, or he will be allowed to have slot machines, or both.

While pouring $30 million into the dog track, Zeff has turned his back on a chance to be a casino owner in Las Vegas. He has put a for-sale sign on 11 acres he owns in one of the hottest spots on the Las Vegas strip.

The property, which has approved plans for a casino-hotel, has attracted offers. But Zeff has been holding out for what would be a record-setting price on the strip, about $9 million an acre.

He did not respond to a request for an interview.

Pigs And Philosophy

One of his failed business ventures, in 1988, sought to dump toxic industrial waste from the United States in the impoverished West African nation of Guinea- Bisseau.

The deal, which was expected to produce hundreds of millions in profits for a company Zeff created, was canceled when a number of African countries moved to block American as well as European waste brokers. Their ventures were denounced by international organizations as immoral and shameful.

Michael T. Materna, a former partner in Zeff's Detroit law firm, said he learned a lot from his boss as a young lawyer.

``Bob had a philosophy,'' Materna recalled. ``He said: `Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. Don't always expect to make a killing on every deal, whether it's for your client or for yourself. Leave something on the table for the other guy. Don't try to get it all because if you do that, they don't want to do business with you again. If you make those kinds of deals a few times, you can get a reputation for being greedy.' ''

In Connecticut quite a few people said they would not do business with Zeff again after a revelation last year that he had secretly recorded conversations using a microphone hidden in his briefcase.

The disclosure emerged from the state police search of his house and his office at the Shoreline Star dog track, where the briefcase was seized. As detectives approached Zeff's house, police said, he ran out and heaved two shopping bags containing 132 audio tapes over a fence into a neighbor's yard. He was arrested on charges of destroying evidence and interfering with a search.

The existence of the potentially embarrassing tapes sent quivers through the state's gambling industry and the Capitol, where Zeff courted lawmakers who could help his business.

Authorities have refused to discuss the contents of the tapes, but have indicated they do not contain any obvious evidence of criminal activity.

The criminal case against Zeff has been in limbo for more than a year while defense motions have been pending to suppress the results of the searches and to dismiss the charges. Zeff's lawyer, Hubert Santos of Hartford, declined to comment.

Most of Zeff's time in the past year appears to have been devoted to getting Shoreline Star out of bankruptcy. He made efforts to sell the track and to attract new investors. But as far as state officials are aware, nobody stepped up to do business with him.